Sunday, 19 April 2009

Busy days and nights here at Kay Dees Crafts. I always knew running your own business was hard as I watched my dad as I was growing up - I didn't realise quite how hard though!

The shop design has changed yet again! I met a lovely lady, Tanya, through Freecycle. I had a big bag of ribbon cut offs that were of no use to me, not long enough to sell but plenty long enough for canny crafters. Tanya answered our Freecycle post and came to collect her bundle. As we were chatting about the business and what our plans were, Tanya said she would cast an eye over the website and pass us back some feedback. As some of our readers and buyers will know, we are always keen to get feedback regarding our business.

As it turns out Tanya is a very talented designer! We have had some fantastic constructive advice and we are busy trying to implement some of her suggestions. Thank you Tanya! I am struggling with some of our graphics, but my main concern is to have a functioning website....at the moment some of the fonts are so tiny you would need a magnifying glass to read them! So back to hours of reformatting but I do think the end results will be worth it.

We now have a range of cardmaking tags and banners available, soon to be listed (hopefully this evening). One of my buyers makes Wedding cards and stationery and requested some Order of Service banners. Of course whilst I was shopping for her request I could not ignore the many different tags I found LOL

I had a lazy day last Sunday as I really needed a break from the shop. I decided I wanted to visit the seaside and of course we had to introduce Ghyll to the sea. I literally stuck a pin in the map and we headed down to Seaford and walked part of the South Downs Way. I have yet to download the photographs of our day but a fantastic time was had by all....and despite it being a Bank Holiday weekend, the weather was glorious.

Tuesday, 7 April 2009

What a nightmare. My husband, who has the patience of a saint, spent most of the weekend helping me count, stay sane and organise our stock for the end of the financial year. Tough task at the best of times but add that, a busy weekend of sales and a lass with fibromyalgia and you have a mountainous task. Dean kept me focused, calmed my fears of 'I have lost a box full of xxx', reassured me I was not going mad when I simply could not add up and kept me in take away food!

I have a lot of stock that I want rid of to free my 'shelves' up for some fantastic new ranges I have seen over in USA and I have promised myself that I will not buy until some of it has gone. So I have had a mad price blitz on some basic crafting items:

Thursday, 2 April 2009

Our Dover Little Activity Books are finally listed! I always feel such a sense of achievement when I finish listing a block of products.

These sturdy little books each have 6 precut stencils. No scissors required; just detach plates and away you go. The durable paper bound stencil designs will also add charming accents to windows, walls, furniture, fabrics and a host of other flat surfaces. Ideal for children but equally useful for all you canny adult crafters out there.

Wednesday, 1 April 2009

These seriously cute brad embellishments have not yet caught on that much in the UK with cardmakers and scrapbookers. This month at Kay Dees Crafts we have them on Special Offer for only £2.99 per pack to try and change that.

Brad Buddies™ make perfect borders for scrapbooks; they are also great for embellishing a photo, a tag or your journalling.

Cardmakers can add these embellishments to the front of a card as a focal point or as a surprise on the inside of the card.